20 February 2018

17th March is St Patrick's Day and over at My Favorite Things we are getting crafty with cross-stitch again with an Irish theme.

I decided to go BIG on this one. I love cross-stitching and wanted a huge canvas to work on. So I carefully die cut our tag cross-stitch die multiple times, until I had an area 45 crosses square!
To enlarge the grid, you will need some low tack tape to hold the die in place, patience and a smidge of brain power to ensure your grid ends up the right size. I found it easiest to pop out all the holes and slot the die back into some of the pre-cut holes. To ensure the die stayed in position, I taped it down and then run it through my die cut machine again. Merely repeat this process until your area is of the appropriate size - you really don't have to go quite as mad as I have done - I was just challenging myself to see if I could actually do it!

I found a beautiful Celtic Knot design online and stitched it with various shades of green Scheepjes Catona wool/yarn (a Dutch brand)

DMC Perlé Cotton works really well with these projects but you could use normal six strand embroidery thread too. I personally opted for the Catona yarn because it worked out considerably cheaper for me, not to mention these miniature balls of wool are so darned cute!

We have some St Patrick Day themed charts on the MFT Blog for you to follow - so why not get those needles out and come join in with us.

16 February 2018

Hello there, now I confess this is a first for me, as I'd never used Chibi lights before this collaboration and I have to say I am pretty pleased with the results.

As a complete novice, I kept mine simple, but hey, my little Yeti's heart lights up when you press the button, which makes me smile......that's what counts right!

My card base is a top folding square card using MFT Sno Cone cardstock. The main background was created using Bristol paper that I cut and dry embossed with 2 Stitched Square dies. This was then inked with Tumbled Glass Distress ink.

The adorable little beast was stamped on to Copic suitable card with Hybrid Cement Grey ink and coloured with a combination of Copic Markers, coloured pencils and white gel pen.

A tiny heart hand punch created his heart with the button being made from a die from Blueprints 29.
Additional sparkle was created with Nuvo drops and a Wink of Stella pen.

Here is the Yeti with his heart lit up:

It is lit up I promise....I took another photograph in the dark to prove it!

As a complete beginner, rather than me clumsily trying to explain how I used the Chibi's I shall instead direct you to a fabulous YouTube video HERE produced by my Design Team mate Karolyn......she's awesome and her clear instructions really helped me complete this task with ease!

If you have not done so already be sure to visit the MFT Blog not only for links to all the Design Team members joining in today but for your chance to win some Chibi lights!

The Schedule for each class day is as follows:Morning Session9:00 am - 12:30 pmLunch Break12:20 pm - 2:00 pmAfternoon Session2:00 pm - 5:30 pmI will be sharing with you techniques that I use to add fur, feathers and character to MFT images.The class fee is $75 Each day the class will include 7 hours of instruction and will be identical in content. Simply register for the class day that best suits you.You will need to bring the required Copic markers to class with you. The Copic list will be provided at a later date, with ample time to purchase the markers.PLEASE NOTE: Each class will accommodate a maximum of 30 students and both classes are expected to sell out very quickly. Classes must be pre-paid. Due to the limited seating availability and special nature of this event, no refunds will be given if you are not able to attend.Register for Saturday June 23HERE**SOLD OUT**Register for Sunday June 24HERE**SOLD OUT**

I am so looking forward to sharing my new class with you,hope to see you there!

14 February 2018

I do hope if you haven't been doing so already that todays post inspires you to enter this fun and oh so easy challenge......you never know you could be the lucky winner of the $50 MFT Store voucher that's up for grabs!

This weeks sketch looks like this:

Here is my interpretation of it:

As you can see I opted for a very simple inked background - created by masking off the top and bottom of my A2 top folding Kraft card base and blending Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide ink. That's when the fun started.......using Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap refills and a splatter brush, I set to flicking ink across the card. I adore the optical illusion that the top portion of the card is darker than the bottom, when in fact it is all Kraft, just with different colour splats!

The dogs, from Canine Companions were stamped with Hybrid Gravel Grey ink, coloured with Caran D'Ache Luminance pencils and then trimmed by hand. I added the little paw prints from You Make My Tail Wag........I don't think the little Chihuahua is responsible for them, do you, his feet are far too small.

7 February 2018

Oh yes, it's Release Day, but before you head off to MFTstamps.com to fill your shopping baskets allow me to share my latest card from the February release.

I smiled when I saw this particular sentiment on the new Anything but Basic Birthday Wishes, a motto to live by if, like me, you have a sweet tooth!

So I went through my MFT stamp collection and picked out all my favourite cake images along with the new ones from the Birthday Chicks set. This card involved quite a bit of masking and layering but the finished composition was worth the effort.........I think you'll agree, it's cake heaven!

The images were stamped on to Copic suitable card with my go to ink, Hybrid Cement Gray and coloured, firstly with Copic Markers, then coloured pencil, for additional detail.

6 February 2018

Hello everyone, it's nearly time for you to be able to buy the February release.....what has been your favourite so far?

Today, I have a little card with a lot of "cattitude"

using the Furever Friends stamp set:

The card base was created by cutting out the largest Single Stitch Line Tag-Corner Square Frame from the same Copic suitable card that I used for my image. I then trimmed a square, top folding cardbase to match the frame shape, making allowance for a small border.
The image was stamped on Copic Suitable card with Hybrid Cement Gray ink and coloured with both Copic and coloured pencil.

As you can see, I added a smidge of additional detail to the original stamp, including making the cat look mean and moth eaten, mwah ha ha! Anyone else feel sorry for the poor pooch who appears to have an unwelcome lodger taking over his bed?

3 February 2018

I am back today with something a little different and shock, horror, there is no colouring!

Before I got bitten by the Copic colouring bug I used to sew all the time, especially cross-stitch. So when I saw my DT member, Amy, extending the sewing area by cutting out the cross-stitch tag die several times, my old sewing synapses started firing.
Here is the result of my brainwave, a stitched background for the new Linked Octagon Frames.....what do you think?

As you can see, the 4-ply wool I used is the perfect size for the cross-stitch base and I love the way this variegated yarn creates a rainbow of stitches.

Don't forget to visit the MFT blog for more inspiration from the Design Team and if you leave a comment you may be the lucky winner of the $75 Store Voucher!

2 February 2018

I thought I'd start this month's release countdown with a little bit of humour.
The sentiment on the new Party Animals stamp set says it all:

"Smile Until Your Cheeks Hurt"Not sure the chicken would agree, but those pesky piglets are finding their prank highly amusing!

The naughty little pigs filled the balloons with Helium. If you look carefully you can see the canister of gas behind them whilst they chuckle to themselves and the poor chicken floats off to goodness knows where.

Can anyone work out what I used to create the helium bottle? I'll give you the answer at the end of this post.......

The scene was stamped on Copic suitable card with Hybrid Cement Gray ink, with the background drawn by hand. It was coloured primarily using Copic Markers with a small amount of coloured pencil enhancement.

COPIC COLOURS:

Sky: B0000, B000, 0

Grass/Bushes: G20, G40, C0, C1, C2

Buttercups: Y13, YR23

Piglets: R11, R12, R20, RV32, RV34, W8

Chicken: R21, R22, E40, E41, E42, E43, E11, E13, E15, E17

Pig's Sweaters: BG02, BG05, BG07, BG09, YG61, TG63, YG67

Helium Bottle: W1, W3, W5

Balloons: R22, R24, R29, G12, G14, G16, BG02, BG05, BG07, W2, W4

Once coloured I used the outer, uncoloured stitched part as a sort of border and then mounted it on Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots Pastel paper with a Gumdrop Green mount to finish, adhered to an A2 top folding card base.

So who worked out what I used as the helium tank?

10/10 if you spotted that it's the salt shaker from Recipe for Happiness!

Don't forget, if you hop on over to the MFT Blog and leave a comment, you may be the lucky winner of a $75 MFT Store voucher as well as seeing the fantastic cards my team mates have been creating with this new release.

I'll be back tomorrow with another project from the upcoming February release